Method for preparing printed proofs



B Oct. 21, 1969 H. B. Mcco 3,473,471

METHOD FOR rmamme PRINTED PROOFS Filed June 9. 1966 form a more perfecf Unionpsfa domeshc Tranquility, provide fo 2 fensqpr'omme. the general blessings of fiber l Wefrhe people. of the Unired 51 form a more perfed' Union domesric ironguiliig, p fense, promofe bless| IN VEN r02 Henry Barry/MC Cormzc/g aff i s United States Patent METHOD FOR PREPARING PRINTED PROOFS Henry Barry McCormick, Chicago, 111., assignor to McCormick and Henderson, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Filed June 9, 1966, Ser. No. 556,445

Int. Cl. B41f 1/24 US. Cl. 101-426 3 Claims This invention relates to an improved method of preparing, prior to final printing, a plurality of printed proofs for given copy and an improved construction for type slugs used in pages which construction provides a positive means for identifying slugs which had been changed.

In the printing industry, the terms proofread and proofreader have specific meanings. A proofreader is an individual who ordinarily is employed by a printer or typesetter or both to make certain that type is set in accordance with given copy. The activities of the proofreader in comparing type with given copy is known as proofreading. When the printer is satisfied that the type is set in accordance with given copy, proof sheets are customarily delivered to a client or customer for review. For the purpose of this disclosure, the inspection of a proof sheet by a customer or client will be known as review, and the individual who performs the inspection will be known as the reviewer.

It is conventional, in at least one segment of the printing industry, to print from type in which type face is cast as an integral part of a type slug and a plurality of slugs are made up into pages. Each slug is individually cast in a Linotype machine or other similar device, and each slug has a relatively thin, elongated body with a line of type face cast integrally with one edge of the body. The slugs are assembled with the respective type faces defining a surface to make up a page. In order to determine whether there are any errors in the cast type, it is the conventional practice for a printer to proofread the type. When the roofreader is satisfied with the type, the printer prints one or more proofs from the page. These proofs are then submitted to a customer or client for review. If a reviewer notes any errors the errors are properly identified, corrections are appropriately marked, and the printer is notified. The printer then removes the slugs or slugs which contain errors or corrections and casts a corrected slug for each slug which requires correction. The corrected slugs are then appropriately positioned in the page, and one or more proofs are again printed. The proofs are again compared with the original copy.

In long and complicated documents, it has been found that it is time consuming for the reviewer to review the entire document a second time. It is more economical to review only those lines which had been corrected since the remaining lines are unalfected by the corrections. In some instances, it is found that in setting up the corrected lines of type, other errors are made or errors are reprinted so that additional corrections must be made to the corrected slugs which means that: corrected lines of type face must be cast again, additional proofs must be printed, and those proofs must again be read. It is one of the principal objects of this invention to provide an improved method of preparing printed proofs wherein corrected lines of printed material are identified so that a reviewer may note which of the lines of print were changed; and, in the event that there are multiple corrections, that is, several succeeding slugs had been cast for a given line of type face and certain lines of type face had not been changed as many times as the given line of type, each line of type face carries an identifying mark to indicate on the proof which slugs were the last slugs to be modified and which slugs were previously modified so that the reviewer need not proofread every line which had been corrected in the course of the revisions of the type slugs.

In the preparation of certain printed documents, such as, proxy solicitations, securities registration statements and others, it is necessary to provide a substantial number of proof. These proofs are often distributed to a large number of individuals so that all parties involved in a given course of action have an opportimity to review the proofs and to make changes prior to final printing and dissemination of the printed material. When a large number of proofs are prepared, it is particularly desirable to provide an indicia which is capable of printing a large number of copies. It is, therefore, another object of the instant invention to provide a device which is particularly well adapted for printing a large number of proofs for use in conjunction with the aforementioned method.

It is a further object of the herein described invention to provide a device for printing proofs with an indicator of corrected slugs but which indicator when removed provides a substantially smooth surface in the type page.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an improved construction for a type slug which is capable of identifying the slug as a corrected slug in a large number of proofs.

It is still another object of the herein disclosed invention to provide an improved page construction of assembled type slugs for printing proofs which identify corrected slugs.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an economical method of identifying corrected type slugs for use in printing proofs.

Other objects and uses of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following specification in light of the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a general outline of the type slug embodying the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the type slug shown in FIGURE 1, but showing the details of a portion of a line of type face which constitutes a portion of the type slug and an indicator type face formed integral with the type slug;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of a portion of the type slug shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of a portion of a page made up of a plurality of type slugs and showing a cutter in phantom view used to remove indicator type faces;

FIGURE 5 is a portion of a printed proofsheet made' up from a page having indicator type face adjacent to lines of type face; and

FIGURE 6 is a port-ion of a finally printed sheet after the indicator type has been removed from the page with the indicator print shown in phantom view.

Referring now to the drawing and especially to FIG- URE 1, a type slug embodying the instant invention and generally indicated by numeral 10 is shown therein in general outline form. The type slug 10 includes a relatively thin elongated body 12 having a line of type face 14 formed integral with one edge thereof and an indicator type 16 spaced from the line of type and positioned adjacent to the edge of the body 12. As may be best seen in FIGURE 2, the line of type face 14 includes shoulders 18 which are cast integrally with the body 12, and type face 20 is cast integrally with shoulders 18.

The indicator type 16 includes a shoulder 22 which is cast integrally with the body 12 adjacent to one edge of the body. Type face 24 is conventionally cast integrally with the shoulder 22 adjacent to the edge of the body and spaced from the line of type face for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter. In FIGURE '2, the type face 24 is of numeral 3; however, any other suitable type face may be cast with the shoulder as will be described in detail hereinafter.

The instant method of preparing proofs is as follows. First, the type face is cast into a slug in a conventional manner on a machine, such as, a Linotype machine. The slugs are then assembled to make up a page. A proof is then printed from the page in a conventional manner, and the proof sheet is proofread to ascertain the accuracy of the type sheet. All errors detected in the proof sheet or changes required are appropriately marked on the proof sheet. In each line wherein an error occurs or a change is to be made, the entire line is corrected by casting a corrected type slug. In the instant method, the first corrected type slugs have numeral 1 cast in the type slug at the position of indicator 16. The numeral 1, in this instance, indicates that the correction is the first correction made; any other suitable identification may be used. Each of the corrected type slugs carries the numeral 1. The incorrect type slugs are removed from the page and replaced by the corrected type slugs. A second proof sheet is then printed in a conventional manner.

It should be noted that in many instances where there are a number of interested parties in a given document, it may be necessary to print a large number of proofs for dissemination to all of the interested parties. This means that the indicator type must be able to withstand printing of a large number of proofs.

The second proofs are then submitted for review. Inasmuch as the entire document has been reviewed once, it is apparent that it is more efiicient to proofread only those lines which have been changed. The reviewer need review only those lines which have the indicator type face printing adjacent to the line of type in this instance a numeral 1. Additional errors or changes in the corrected lines of type are noted, and second corrected type slugs are cast including the corrections or changes. The second corrections, in this instance, carry the numeral 2 at the position of indicator type face 16. The second corrected type slugs are positioned in the appropriate locations, and a third proof is then printed.

The third proof which is printed then carries the designation of numeral 1 adjacent to the lines which were corrected after the first proof, and the designation of numeral 2 adjacent to the lines which were corrected after the second proof. The reviewer then need only inspect the lines which were corrected in the second correction and does not need to review the lines which were corrected in the first correction. It is obvious that in a document which is quite long and many corrections are made, this provides a substantial saving of time and effort.

Further corrections or changes in the lines, which were corrected during the second correction, are noted and third corrected slugs are cast including third corrected lines of type face. The third corrected slugs, in this instance, carry the designation of a numeral 3 adjacent to one edge thereof and on the same edge of the body as the carrying the line of type face as indicated in FIG- URE 2. The third corrected type slugs are then placed in the appropriate positions in the page, and proofs are again printed in a conventional manner. It is evident that suflicient changes are made to produce a perfect copy, and a proofreader is always apprised as to which lines were the last lines changed.

Looking now to FIGURE 5, a portion of a printed sheet generally indicated by numeral 26 is shown therein. A first line 28 in the page has numeral 3 spaced from the line indicating that this line was changed in the third correction. A second line 30 has no numeral indicating that there was no change made. A third line 32 has numeral 1 in line and spaced from the printed line indicating that the line was corrected on the first correction and that no subsequent corrections were made. A third line 34 has a numeral 2 in line and spaced from the line 34 indicating that the line was corrected in the 4 second correction but was not corrected in the third correction. It is apparent that a reviewer, who is satisfied that the original copy was correct and the first and second corrections were proper, then need read only line 28 which has numeral 3 opposite the line.

It is important to note that in the sheet printed as shown in FIGURE 5, the lines of type define a margin. and the indicator type faces are spaced from the lines of type and are arranged in a columnar form.

Assuming for the purposes of the instant disclosure that only three corrections are required in the document and the proofreader approves all the changes made, the document is then ready for final printing. The printer then need only remove the indicator type face by cutting away said type face with a cutting tool 36 which is partly shown in phantom view in FIGURE 4. The cutting tool is, in this instance, a router; however, any other similar power driven tool may be used to facilitate the cutting. It is important to note that since the slugs are arranged so that the indicator type faces are in columnar form, it is only necessary to cut the indicator type face With one cut of the tool. There is no need to dissemble the page since the slugs are cut in situ. There is a further advantage in cutting the type face away in that it provides a substantially smooth surface which will not hook or tear any parts which may come in engagement with the page.

Once the indicator type faces have been removed, the page is ready for printing, and an appropriate number of copies is then printed. FIGURE 6 shows a portion or a finally printed sheet 38. On sheet 33, the indicator numerals are shown in phantom view in order to show where these were originally located.

It is important to note that although only three corrections have been described in detail above, it is readily apparent that more corrections may be made, and an indicator type face may be appropriately added for each correction. It is evident that when there are a large number of proofs to be provided for each printing of proofs, the indicator type face must be strong enough to withstand printing a large number of proofs. An important aspect of this invention is that the first indicator type face, as is each indicator type face, is of a construction which may withstand the large number of proof sheets being printed from it since the total number of proof sheets printed may be substantial. Furthermore, the instant method simplifies the work of the reviewer by distinguishing the last correction from the previous corrections so that the proofreader need not review every line that was corrected; however, he does have the advantage of knowing which lines were corrected.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of preparing multiple proofs of a sheet of printed material comprising the steps of: casting a pinrality of individual type slugs of which each of said slugs includes a body and a line of type face formed integral with one edge of the body; assembling said slugs to make up a page; printing a proof sheet from said page; removing at least one of the type slugs from the page; casting for the removed type slug a first corrected type slug including a body, a corrected line of type face formed integral with one edge of said body and a first indicator type face having a shoulder formed integral with the one edge of said body and being spaced from said corrected line of type face; placing in the page said corrected type slug in the position originally occupied by the removed type slug; printing a second proof from the corrected page while maintaining the first indicator type face in position; removing a type slug from the corrected page; casting a second corrected type slug including a body, a corrected line of type face formed integral with one edge of said body and a second indicator type face having a shoulder formed integral with one edge of said body and being spaced from said corrected line of type face, during the casting step said second indicator type face being formed with an indicator type face that is readily distinguishable from said first indicator type face and each of said first and second indicator faces being distinguishable as to its relative order of correction so that each corrected type line is distinguishable as to its respective order of correction; replacing in the corrected page the second corrected type slug in the position originally occupied by the second removed type slug to make up a second corrected page; printing a third proof sheet from the second corrected page; and removing all of said indicator type faces from the corrected type slugs after all corrections have been performed on said corrected page.

2. The method of preparing multiple proofs of a sheet of printed material comprising the steps defined in claim 1 including the step of aligning the indicator type face to form a columnar line prior to removal of the indicator type face from the corrected type slug.

3. The method of preparing multiple proofs of a sheet b of printed material comprising the steps defined in claim 1 wherein removing the indicator type face consists of cutting away the indicator type face.

References Cited ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner I. REED FISHER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

mg? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,473,471 Date October 21L 1969 lnventorm) Henry Harr McCormick It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent: and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

IN THE SPECIFICATION In Column 2, at Line 7, "proof" should be -proofs-- In Column 2 at Line 49 proofsheet" should be -proof sheet-- In Column 3, at Line 15, after "indicator" insert type- In Column 3, at Line 17, after insert --however-- SIGNED AND SEALED JUNZ 197 (SEAL) Attest:

Edward M, Fl In 1AM IE. 'SCIHUYLER, JR- Anesting f e Omissioner of -Patents 

1. THE METHOD OF PREPARING PROOFS OF A SHEET OF PRINTED MATERIAL COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: CASTING A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL TYPE SLUGS OF WHICH EACH OF SAID SLUGS INCLUDES A BODY AND A LINE OF TYPE FACE FORMED INTEGRAL WITH ONE EDGE OF THE BODY; ASSEMBLING SAID SLUGS TO MAKE UP A PAGE; PRINTING A PROOF SHEET FROM SAID PAGE; REMOVING AT LEAST ONE OF THE TYPES SLUG FROM THE PAGE; CASTING FOR THE REMOVED TYPE SLUG A FIRST CORRECTED TYPE SLUG INCLUDING A BODY, A CORRECTED LINE OF TYPE FACE FORMED INTEGRAL WITH ONE EDGE OF SAID BODY AND A FIRST INDICATOR TYPE FACE HAVING A SHOULDER FORMED INTEGRAL WITH THE ONE EDGE OF SAID BODY AND BEING SPACED FROM SAID CORRECTED LINE OF TYPE FACE; PLACING IN THE PAGE SAID CORRECTED TYPE SLUG IN THE POSITION ORIGINALLY OCCUPIED BY THE REMOVED TYPE SLUG; PRINTING A SECOND PROOF FROM THE CORRECTED PAGE WHILE MAINTAINING THE FIRST INDICATOR TYPE FACE IN POSITION; REMOVING A TYPE SLUG FROM THE CORRECTED PAGE; CASTING A SECOND CORRECTED TYPE SLUG INCLUDING A BODY, A CORRECTED LINE OF TYPE FACE FORMED INTEGRAL WITH ONE EDGE OF SAID BODY AND A SECOND INDICATOR TYPE FACE HAVING A SHOULDER FORMED INTEGRAL WITH ONE EDGE OF SAID BODY AND BEING SPACED FROM SAID CORRECTED LINE OF TYPE FACE, DURING THE CASTING STEP SAID SECOND INDICATOR TYPE FACE BEING FORMED WITH AN INDICATOR TYPE FACE THAT IS READILY DISTINGUISHABLE FROM SAID FIRST INDICATOR TYPE FACE AND EACH OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND INDICATOR FACES BEING DISTINGUISHABLE AS TO ITS RELATIVE ORDER OF CORRECTION SO THAT EACH CORRECTED TYPE LINE IS DISTINGUISHABLE AS TO ITS RESPECTIVE ORDER OF CORRECTION; REPLACING IN THE CORRECTED PAGE THE SECOND CORRECTED TYPE SLUG IN THE POSITION ORIGINALLY OCCUPIED BY THE SECOND REMOVED TYPE SLUG TO MAKE UP A SECOND CORRECTED PAGE; PRINTING A THIRD PROOF SHEET FROM THE SECOND CORRECTED PAGE; AND REMOVING ALL OF SAID INDICATOR TYPE FACES FROM THE CORRECTED TYPE SLUGS AFTER ALL CORRECTIONS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED ON SAID CORRECTED PAGE. 